ProSieben takes Austria’s Puls

Channel serves Vienna

BERLIN — A day after completing its takeover of pan-European TV group SBS Broadcasting, ProSiebenSat1 has added Austrian free TV channel Puls TV to its growing list of continental outlets.

ProSiebenSat1 said Thursday that it is acquiring all the shares in the channel, which serves the Vienna metropolitan area, from a group of private investors.

The parties declined to provide financial details of the deal, which further expands ProSiebenSat1’s presence in Europe.

On Wednesday, the group finalized the E3.3 million ($4.44 billion) acquisition of SBS, creating a pan-European broadcasting company that will, with the addi-tion of Puls TV, operate 25 free TV stations and 24 pay channels throughout Europe.

ProSiebenSat1 execs are predicting that the expansion of digital satellite reception in Austria will generate faster-than-average growth in the country’s TV ad-vertising market, especially for commercial TV providers.

The acquisition remains subject to approval by local antitrust authorities and media regulators.